Pheonix

A enchanting smile fell into her lips as she sat like an angel on her chair. One of those silky black curls were curled about her slender finger as she felt a few dozen eyes on her. Her top two teeth curled over her bottom lip then as the lips of the School's Governors frowned.

"You....can't kick me out..." She whispered, attempting to use all her charms on them. Her few friends at the school knew what she was doing right now as they sat outside of the door, chewing their fingernails. Their nickname for her was the temptress, they knew she would slip out of this one...right?

"MISS PARRI." A woman said to her in a voice as sharp as an axe.

"Miss?" She said, turning her two toned angelic eyes on the woman.

"Please pardon yourself from trying to charm us." She spoke out and turned towards the head Professor of the school. He sighed and handed Fiunna a form, she knew the thick parchment before she saw it. An excusal from the school. She had been kicked out. All for a little fight in the halls.

She stood there for a few moments looking at it in her hands. Then she screamed, just a thick scream falling from her rose lips. Then she stood up, short skirt swishing as the sixteen, almost seventeen year old went flying out of the room and down the hall.

She kept running past all her friends and the point where an hour before she had punched a girl in the face. She kept running as she headed to the stables, scaring a few white horses. She ran to the nice private stable of her phoenix and pushed the gate open. She slipped onto it's large warm back and lead it out of the stables and off the grounds as it took off, a few large tears of fire slipping down her pale cheeks.

"Papa!" She screamed out, as she ran into their house, causing a young Kandy to start sobbing from Fiunna’s voice.

“What is it love?” He said, coming out of the kitchen to see his daughter on the stairs sobbing, her hair slipping from it’s perfect bun. He sat down next to her and she handed him the sheet. He sighed out and wrapped his arm around his daughters shaking shoulders.

“I’m leaving this place.” She spoke out, chewing her lip he just shook his head.

“Fiunna, you can’t just leave.” He said. She sighed and stood up, picking up her cousin and resting the child on her hip as she retired to her bedroom for the night.

“Fi come out.” She heard her brother say, she just ignored him and kept at rocking Kandy who was a bit to big to be rocked in her slender arms.

She woke up from the little bell falling from her stick of incense. She stood up and threw some clothing into her bag for her and Kandy. Her lips wore a smirk as she picked up the sleeping Kandy and her bag and slipped out to the stables.

“Come on Ashes...” She whispered to the Phoenix as it went to call out as a hand touched it. Just then a hand reached out and grabbed her arm. It was a strong one, but not her father or brother. She turned quickly onto to see Jason’s smirking face.

“You know I can do a scream that would wake up someone across the world.” She whispered to him.

“I’ll just tell your father you lured me here...you tried to drag me into the hay and rape me” He said aloud, faking a scared voice. She just rolled her eyes and put the bag over Ashes neck and slipped Kandy on the huge animal. Jason ran a finger through her curls and shook his head “I wouldn’t leave if I were you”

“Why not? So I can stay here and be Fiunna forever? No. I heard about another school. Maybe I can get a job there where people don’t know me.” She snarled at him slipped onto the bird.

“Fie...” He said, shaking his head as she lead the phoenix out of the stables. He slipped a necklace of some sort into her hand as he knew he couldn’t stop her once she got started. She flashed him a smile and tapped the Phoenix’s tail to show him to step off.

They landed in the middle of the forest, Fiunna sleeping on his back as he slowly walked towards the castle she had pointed him towards. He stepped to the stables and settled himself and his two riders into a large pile of hay.

Just a few hours later this new stranger was being lead to the Professors office, looking around at the stone halls of the school. The lady who was leading her had found the woman asleep in the hay arms wrapped about a sleeping girl.

The hallway grew dimmer and her vision blurred as she awoke in a panic. Ice cold sweat ran along her forehead and landed on the top of her white nightgown. She slipped out of her bed, bare feet chilling on the stone floor as she stepped to the window.

The night air was cool on her china thin skin, she bit her lip and pulled herself on the ledge of her window. The dark blue light casted shadows on her form slender and light in it’s window.

It all seemed so hard, she wondered if the frost would cause her to slip off the window as she sat there thinking. It was to hard to bare these days, all alone in this place without any of her friends. She was left in her beautiful stone prison, captured for reasons she did not know and left to sit her days alone.

The drop was deadly, this she could tell and stood up in the sill. Her stepping slipped a bit and she grasped the sill, black curls catching a moment on the wooden engraving of the frame.

Suddenly his vision faded of the girl and he stood up, his prisoner wouldn’t get away from him so easily even if it was death. He slipped one of his robes on and flew up to her room. The first time she would see him. Just as she slipped out of the window he caught the flowing sash of her gown.

She gasped at feeling herself falling down then the feeling of being caught. As she swung there for what seemed a day she thought about how this seemed so much like one of her favorite fairy tales. Just as the silken sash started to rip from her slight weight the man pulled her up.

“What’s wrong with you?” He asked, face unseen from the shadows of night. The moment he gingerly placed her down he pushed her onto the wall and twisted her wrist above her.

“Let go of me!” She cried out, flames starting on her form. They burned at his hand and he dropped her wrist.

“You shall stay here until your friend Jason pays off his loans to me” He snarled at the girl, turning as the light began to shed on his face.

“Damn Jason....How much is that?”

“Twelve Million gold pieces.”

“What?” She screamed out, face paling and falling to the floor at the same moment.

“Yes so sleep. Now.” He said sharply and left her to stand there, rubbing her wrist with shaking fingers and a few fire like tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Damn Jason.....”
Early morning she sat there sewing at her bed covers, ignoring the maid who same in, frozen like, and delivered her food without a word. The maid then went to the closet picked up her old clothing and put it in a small bin.

“I need some more cloth to make warmer sheets....would you mind getting me some?” She asked but the maid left without a single word to her. She shrugged and sighed.

“Your rope won’t work Miss.” The strange man from the night before said from the doorway. He seemed to look nice enough, black hair pulled back to reveal his dark green/gray eyes. As nice and clean but as he looked as she saw was a dirty man who wanted to cause her hell. She felt her lips turn into a frown and turned her head from him.

“This is thicker sheets, this horrible chamber is a giant draft.” She snarled at him, wondering how he knew what her plans were with this thick cloth.

“Yes I do get a chill when I jump out of windows to” He said in a teasing way, one an older brother might.

“Your not going to charm me!”

“But of course Miss, that’s your job right?”

Suddenly as he stepped over to her she threw the sheet over him and tried to trap him under it for reasons she did not know. She had enchanted the blanket in advance so no magic could be used under it thinking that might come in handy.

“Oh dear...that’s not nice....” He whispered behind her. She screamed and turned about to face him.

“W-What?”

“I’m not your normal captor my dear” He said to her with a smirk. She glared at him once more and went to the other side of the room.

“Humph....”

“Pouty Princess aren’t we? Well I‘ll come back later Miss.” He said and shrugged and then went to leave her alone.

“He’ll never get that money...”

“Then you’ll never leave.”

And he left her to sit and continue her rope no matter what that idiot said. Once more the maid came in with a bowl of stew around supper time. She viewed it with disgust and pushed it to the side as she continued to sew neatly.

“Miss, would you like to come out and enjoy the view in the garden?” He asked her with a smirk a few hours later. He knew the answer and it amused him so.

“No you scum.” She said to him in a sweet voice and closed the door in his face.

In the middle of the night she stood up from her bed in a nightgown once more. The silken blue cloth swished as she stepped to the window and tied her rope to the drape pole and made sure it was safe.

"Here it goes..." She whispered and grabbed a small bag, tying it to the bottom of the rope. She wrapped it around her hands and climbed of the ledge of the window. She was a strange sight, flowing nightgown and robe with her black curls blowing in the night air, as she climbed down a patched and lumpy rope. She continued to carefully slip down the rope, trying to keep her hands from slipping.

She finally got down the dozen or so yards and her slipper hit the stone in front of the giant castle like palace. She pulled her bag off the magic rope (( she really couldn't find 12 yards of rope )) and started to walk through the forest that was laying before her.

"Oh dear, dear." That familiar voice said as her captor snatched her arm.

"Let GO of me" She cried out, yanking her arm from his grasp and setting off into a run, trying with all her heart to get away from him. But suddenly her body frozen up, she couldn't move a single inch. She could feel his breath on her neck just then. He ran a finger along her cold bare arm.

"My dearest girl..." He said, stepping before her his hand tightening on her arm "Your shall do JUST what I say until your friend pays me back"

Her body became unfrozen but he kept his grip on her tight. She glared at him, but didn't dare to try and run once more. He had some strong magic powers that she did not want to mess with.

"You sicken me..." She snarled at him as he dragged her back into the castle. He dragged her up to her room and threw her in without a care of harming her in the least.

"NOW tomorrow you shall dress nicely. Tomorrow you shall come downstairs and dine with me and TOMORROW we shall start our new life together dear." He said and slammed the door, going back to his own rooms after locking it.

"You shall burn in hell for this!" She cried out and fell into her bed, body worn and tired from the nights ordeal.

The next morning she woke up and sat in bed. Then a new maid came in, a bright young girl who smiled at Fiunna and sat next to her.

"What shall you wear today miss?" She asked her and then stood up, going over to the closet and looking through the rich gowns with an excellent eye. Fiunna just looked away, thinking of how to explain this to a young girl.

"I shall not nor shall I Ever go down there and dine with that Pig." She spoke, running her fingers along the cloth of her nightgown.

"Oh miss you shall get us all in trouble if you do that. The sir...he is certain you shall fulfill the prophecy that he was born with."

"And what is that?"

"That a woman would come into his life from one man's mistake and that if he keeps her with him for one year he shall rule."

"Rule...what?"

"Well the world of course miss"

"That's insane!" She cried out laughing so hard she fell on her back on the bed.

"Miss do you not know he is the king of the land we are in? And he is the most powerful wonderful wizard the lands have ever seen."
"But no one can Rule the world! That's so silly!"

"Miss he shall rule the world if he wants to and you shall help dead or alive....now I think the blue would look nice on you" The maid said and brought her a gown, helping her change into it and almost dragging her out of the room.

"So good of you to join me" He said from the table, preparing her a seat next to him with a wave of his hand.

"My friends shall look for me you know" She said to him as the maid sat her down at the chair and placed a plate of fruits before her.

"Then they will die"

"You could never kill them you foul piece of scum!" She cried at him and went to attack him with her knife, but he snatched her wrist and twisted it.

"Take this wildcat away please?" He spoke to his guards who carried her to her room and dumped her just in the door.

"I'm not a sack of beans I hope you people know!" She said and leaned on the door after the guard shut it, sighing "How do I get myself out of this one?"

A few doors and levels away her captor sat there with his guards.

"How is she?" He spoke to the guard who had carried her away.

"Still as wild as ever sir" He spoke in that dull note most of his servants had gotten use to using around their master.

"Then...I have an idea....go bring her to me in my office please?"

"Yes sir"

His guard ran off to carry off his masters orders as the master went up to his room. None of his servants knew his name they just called him master. He knew no one but his servants before this girl, so his name laid spoken only in his head "Wren Starbuilt". It was in Wrens head right now as he walked to his office and went into the corner where you could not see him if you opened the door.

The guard entered Fiunna’s room and took her hand, bringing her to his masters office. She stepped in alone and looked about. Just then he jumped behind her and wrapped his hand about her mouth so she could not scream out and alarm the servants.

He cast a quick spell about her head so she fell into a sleep in his arms, two toned eyes closing. He smiled and brought her to a couch, laying her light body down and standing next to her. He pulled some sort of net thing from one of his shelves.

He cast a spell and a strange sort of butterfly flew out from her head. It’s wings were covered in pictures of her mind and memories. He caught it in the net and put the net in a small case. When he did that her body sort of slumped, like any dream she might be having had left her mind.

He waved his hand before her face and it woke her up. Her eyes looking blank and dreamy. He smiled to her and she smiled back ever so brightly. He suddenly understood why she might just have friends as she sat up with a bit of a yawn.

“Who am I sir?” She said just like he expected her to. His spell was allowing himself to reprogram her mind until she was reminded of her old life.

“Your name is Ellimere and you are my Fiancé. We will be married in a year and you have loved me since first sight. Sadly the only thing you can remember about your past life is your father beating you causing fear in your heart.” He spoke shortly, he didn’t have to much time to explain histories and pasts and all that stuff. He didn’t find it very important.

“Your Fiancé will wake up soon... “ The woman said and then fell over off the bed. He slipped his arm over and caught her just as her eyes opened.

“Darling? What just happened?” She asked biting her lip and looking about her seeming very confused. He understood this, he had just had her entire memories revamped and that could be hard on the brain when not a lot of information was given when he was fixing her up. Suddenly the butterfly n the clear case went mad at seeing it’s body calling him darling like she actually cared. He pushed the butterfly out of sight and helped her to her feet.

“You fainted for some reason El” He said to her and helped her to the couch to sit down and gather her head. She smiled up at him.

“You treat me to well” She spoke for, she couldn’t remember him twisted her onto the wall before just to see her scream. He nodded and sat next to her, she laid her head on his shoulder and he left it there. His head celebrated the way she loved him now. But his body was cool and patted her silky head of black curls in a comforting way.

“Come on El, we’ll take a walk about the gardens.” He said and she stood up with him, arm wrapped about his. As he left he could almost hear the screams of a small butterfly like voice from under the couch in a tiny box.

“Lets get married now! I can’t wait a whole year!” She cried out to him, squeezing his arm and leaning herself on him once more. He smiled down on her but he thought seriously in his head.

“I can’t just marry her....If she finds out who she is...this girl is insane...but what could it hurt...might help the little daemon stay with me a bit more.” He thought in his head. Then he decided Yes. He would get her to him with a ring on her slim finger. Little idiotic Wench.

“El...are you sure?” He asked her stopping before a small waterfall. She smiled and nodded to him with a glitter in her eyes.

“I am very sure!”

“Then my dear I shall set up a small ceremony for tomorrow night?”

She nodded her head at him and they continued their walk. Later that night he dropped her off at her door, she slipped in it after kissing his cheek. Her maid who had been waiting for her ran over and helped her ease off her corset and gown. The maid eased a gown of thin silk over her shoulders. She smiled to the maid and laid herself in her bed.

She woke up the next morning with the smile. The maid hurried to her and showed her the gowns she could wear on a special morning like this one. Out of the corner of her eye then she spied a white down resting on the foot of her bed.

“Oh is this the wedding down?” She cried out, a few gasps leaving her mouth as took the step over to it. It was perfect in her eyes. A long ivory train fell to the ground even now, covered with pictures of roses and dragons and all sorts of beauty. The top was low cut, plain with no sleeves. She ran her fingers along the cloth and then turned to a small box. Inside as she popped the top of it she saw strands and strands of gems to hang in her curls to match the gown. She gasped and had to sit down.

The rest of the day was spent pacing and chewing her fingernails. Her maid finally guided her to a chair where they sat reading a book of poems to calm Ellimere down. Then finally Her maid slipped her out of her gown and slipped the corset about her.

"How tight today Miss?" She asked as she set up the laces. Fiunna grabbed at the bedpost to keep herself steady.

"As tight as you can!" Fiunna cried out at her, shutting her eyes and taking a few deep breaths so she might remember what it was like to breath.

"Are you sure Miss?"

"Very sure, now pull!"

And the maid did just that, placing her foot on Ellimere's back and pulling as tight as she could. Ellimere gasped out as the maid pulled the laces tighter and tighter and then finally tied them when Ellimere started to look faint.

“Miss! Maybe I should loosen the laces?” The maid said as her soon to be Mistress grabs at her waist and shut her eyes tightly.

“No No! I just....I just need to lay down for a moment. I will be fine!!” Ellimere said sharply and laid herself on her bed, her breathing soon loosening her corset enough so she felt more comfortable. Elli smiled up at her maid who took a sigh of relief.

The maid helped her to stand and then started to slip the wedding gown over her head, her mass of black curls coming up from the perfect white silk just in time to see the maid chewing her lip and shaking her head.

“What is wrong?” Ellimere said, running to the mirror before she could smooth the girl and fully pull it over her body. The maid then came over with her pins and started to work on making sure the gown didn’t slip off of her.

“You just look a bit...peckish Miss” The Maid whispered into her ear as she tried not to stick a pin into her arm.

“I look perfect!” Ellimere cried out at the Maid. The Maid just nodded and started to fix the strings of gems into her hair. Finally the two were done and the Maid pointed to the office where she should go to have the wedding start.

“Darling?” Ellimere said as she slipped into the office. But Wren was not there so she started to search about, looking at boxes and bags to amuse herself. Then she spied a small silver box laying on his desk. She slipped over to it and picked it up, unlatching it. Insides was a butterfly that looked sick and weak. It landed on her finger and she looked at the strange pictures on it’s wings.

She saw what looked like a film covering one wing. A woman who looked just like her sat in a large dark room laughing with a group of people. The woman who looked like herself suddenly looked toward Ellimere and winked.

It was like waking up from a bad dream. Memories flooded her head and spilled through her veins. She watched the butterfly fade away as she closed the box and put it back into place. She would show him for tricking her. Just then the door opened up and she turned towards Wren.

“Hello Ellimere my dear” He said and stepped over to her, taking her hand gently in his and leading her out of his office and to a long hall. It looked very nice, all fit up with flowers from the garden. To bad it disgusted her. They started to walk down to the front of it arm in arm.

“I know who I really am” She said, tightening her grip on his arm and smiling about at all the guards seating about the hall.

“You what?” He asked her, turning his head towards her but she kept her grip tight on his arm. He wasn’t just going to get away.

"I know who I am you filthy bastard." She said to him, eyes growing cold as they neared a servant who served as a priest. Then she smirked at him, she had won this little fight after all.

All the sudden in one movement he pushed himself on her, twisting her wrists and pushing them to the floor and sitting on her legs. She screamed out in pain but not a single servant dared to look as she struggled under his weight on the floor. He glared down at her as tears formed in her eyes, her head turning away from him.

"You want to play games Ms. Parri?" He snarled at her, she took a deep gasp of air biting her lip as the pain coursed through her slender form. Fire didn’t even dare slip from her as her emotions swelled huge and burst with a cry that shattered ear drums.

He then pulled her up, dragging her along with him down all the hallways. They kept running without a single servant daring to come after then to save poor Fiunna who feared her very doom. They reached a door she had never been in before and he pushed her in before him, locking the door behind them with a smirk.

The walls of deep blue seemed like the only real colour in here, drab grey bed spreads and couches filled this rather chilly room. She flew on one of these couches, slamming her head and getting all the sudden very faint. He ran to the bed stand grabbing a knife and holding it before her with a crazy look in his eyes. She whimpered as she saw it and dizzily slipped off the couch, trying to get away from him.

There was some sort of banging outside the door but he paid it no attention as he crept closer to the girl, who hid her glorious little head in her lap fearing for her very life. Wren reached her in a matter of seconds, grabbing a handful of silken curls and pulling her head up. His knife in seconds ran across her neck, as long as he was in his home it would work.

“Chill....” She whispered, staring up at him as blood poured down her wedding gown, a almost sickening sight to even him. He smirked and turned opening the door. Only to find Jason. Jason’s eyes were huge, staring in at his only friend’s creamy skin dripping with ruby red. He pushed a shocked Wren out of the way and ran to Fiunna who was still clinging to the threads of life. She smiled up at him, lifting her arm to touch his face.

“Fia..” He sweetly said his pet nickname for her. The chilling smile still was on her face as her arm wrapped around him, body going limp. He felt a cold shiver go down his back as she closed her two tone eyes, never to see a sunny day ever again.

He gave a cry and jumped up, running to Wren who still stood there staring. Jason pushed him over, pulling his sword from his hilt and ramming it into his chest, turning after he had pulled it out, running back to Fiunna’s body. He picked it up and went running out of the castle. He held her form close, trying to stop the few drops of blood with his shirt as they rode back to their real home.